Morgan Stanley Interns Rely on ChatGPT: 96% Say They Can’t Work Without AI

AI is not just reshaping Wall Street strategy. It is reshaping Wall Street’s future workforce.

A new survey of more than 500 Morgan Stanley summer interns reveals that the vast majority, 96%, are already using AI tools in their daily lives. And not just occasionally. A third said they rely on it every single day, and nearly half said they use it several times a week.

In other words, the next generation of bankers cannot imagine doing their jobs without ChatGPT.

ChatGPT Is the Clear Winner

The survey shows that ChatGPT completely dominates other platforms. About 72% of interns said they use it frequently, far ahead of Claude, Gemini, or Microsoft’s Copilot.

And they are not just sticking to the free version. Half of them are paying out of pocket for subscriptions. Roughly 48% of Morgan Stanley’s interns said they pay for ChatGPT Plus themselves, a striking sign that young bankers see it as a must-have tool.

How They Actually Use It

Interns reported using ChatGPT for both work and personal life:

• Work tasks: Summarizing research, learning new concepts (79%), drafting emails and reports (74%), coding or debugging (56%).
• Personal life: Vacation planning (45%), recipes (36%), even medical advice (34%).

That last one raises eyebrows. Nearly one in three future bankers are trusting AI for health information, even though 48% admitted they are “very concerned” about misinformation from these same tools.

For all their enthusiasm, many interns are worried about what AI means for their careers. 58% said they are concerned AI could replace jobs on Wall Street.

It is a generational paradox. Gen Z bankers are the most fluent AI users in finance, but also the most convinced it might take their jobs away.

The survey highlights a massive generational shift. Previous cohorts of finance workers leaned on Excel and Google. This one is leaning on ChatGPT.

If interns already cannot imagine doing their jobs without AI, that suggests Wall Street’s future workflows will be AI-first by default. But the contradictions in the survey show that comfort with the technology does not equal trust.

For Morgan Stanley and its peers, the real question is not whether interns will use AI. It is whether the industry can adapt fast enough to handle the risks these same interns already recognize.

The next generation of bankers has spoken. AI is no longer optional. It is essential.

But if even 21-year-old interns are already worried that AI might make them obsolete, then Wall Street leaders need to think harder about what “AI-first” really means for the future of finance jobs.